Elastic welt for stockings



May 24, 1932. H. c. ABERLE ELASTIC WELT FOR STOCKINGS Filed Nov. 27, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet y 24, 1932- H. c. ABERLE 1,860,272

ELASTIC WELT FOR STOCKINGS Filed Nov. 27, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 "W jj m msazs ///,W// v///M///M////// a I Patented May 24, 1932 UNITED STATES HARRY C. ABERLE, OF JENKINTOW'N, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO B. .C. ABEBLE PATENT OFFICE COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA ELASTIC WELT FOR STOCKINGS Application filed November 27, 1981. Serial No. 577,603.

' smoothly and in a fixed position on the limb of the wearer at full length, knee length, calf length, or other intermediate position without the use of additional supporting means.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a relatively firm welt which will facilitate the folding of the stocking to any desired length, before or after the stocking has been applied to the limb of the wearer.

Another object of the invention is to produce the welt of the stocking as a separate preformed unit which may be readily applied to the needles of a knitting machine for the knitting of the leg portion of the stocking directly to the welt to form an integral part thereof whereby the stocking at the juncture of the two parts of the stocking will have the same degree of elasticity as the areas adjacent thereto.

Another object of the invention is to provide an elastic welt composed of woven fabric and provided at one edge with a well defined readily perceptible line for facilitating the topping of the welt unit onto the points of'a toppin bar of a flat knittin machine,.ont0 the quil s of a transferring o a circular knitting machine or directly onto the needles of either of said types of machine.

Another feature of the invention resides in y the particular construction of the welt fabric wherein a supplementary selvage cord is provided substantially parallel to and spaced laterally fromone of the selvage edges of the body portion of the welt and is secured to the body as an integral part thereof, thereby providing the readily perceptible topping line and at the same time making the welt adaptable for application to the needles of a machine of any gage and eliminating the necessity for the topping of individual loops onto the points, quills or needles as above noted.

Another feature of the invention residesin the adaptability of the stocking to usewlth the popular girdle garter commonly secured to a girdle and attached to the stocking to keepthe girdle down in place on the-wearer..

Insuch instances the stocking welt issubjected to severe strain, which in ordinary stockings frequently results in the starting of runs in thewelt which many times extends down into the leg of the stocking. The elast1c welt with suitable reinforcement of the stocking immediately below the welt obviatesthis condition.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a stocking made in accordance with the principles of the present invention as being applied full length to the limb of a wearer;

Fig. 2 illustrates the stocking at knee length;

Fig. 3 illustrates the stocking at calf lengt Fig. 4 diagrammatically illustrates the stocklng in flat form;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 1; F 1g. 6 is a section taken on the line 66,

i'g. 7. is an enlarged and expanded diagrammatic view of a fragment of the welt,

showing one form of weave, with the welt topped onto the needles of a, knitting machine;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 8.8, Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8, but showing two courses of stitches having been knit onto the elastic'welt;

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view of. the structure shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10,but showing the welt applied to the needles of a coarser gage machine; and

Fig. 12 illustrates a modified edge on the welt.

As shown in the drawings, a stocking made in accordance with the principles of the present invention includes an elastic welt 1, which may be of any width desired,preferably from three quarters to one inch, for convenience in foldlng the stocking to any desired length.

Knit directly to the lower edge 2 of the elastic welt 1 is the upper leg portion 3 of the stocking. As shown in Fig. 4, the upper leg portion 3 is composed of relatively heavier fabric than the calf and lowerleg portions 4 of the stocking. For example, in cases p where the lower leg and calf portions would be composed of four-thread silk 'the upper leg portion 3 would be composed of eightthread silk or other equivalent thread.

As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the elastic welt 1 is a woven fabric composed of a plurality of rubber containing warps 5, 5, which alternate transversely of the body of the welt strip 1 with fibrous warps 6, 6 grouped in pairs.

At each of, the opposite edges of the body of the welt strip 1 1s an-elastic selvage warp 5a and intermediate these elastic selvage warps and the first elastic body warp 5 is a series of three fibrous warps 6a, 6a.

At one edge of the fabric stripl, in the present instance, and parallel to the selvage warp 5a is a supplemental selvage warp 10 which is spaced from the adjacent body selvage 5a leaving an open space 11 which constitutes a readily perceptible line along the edge of the bo'dy'strip 1.

It will be here noted that Fig. 7 is adiagrammatic view of the fabric showing all the warp threads separatedfor the purpose of illustrating the particular weave employed but in the fabric as actually produced the .warps 5, 5a, 6 and 6a lie in close lateral abutting relation to each other making a close woven fabric in which only the open space 11 is readily perceptible. I

In order to produce such a fabric the warps 5, 5a, 6 and 6a are bound together by a continuous weft thread 8 which, as shown at the right side of Fig. 7, passes first under the center single fibrous warp 6a at one edge of the strip, over the other two adjacent single warps 6m and the first elastic warp 5, then under the first grouped pair of fibrous warps 6, then over the next elastic warp 5, the next grouped pair of fibrous warps 6 and the next elastic warp 5, and repeating this order of under one and over three across the fabricto the opposite edge thereof, where theweft 8 passes under the center one of the three single fibrous warps 6a from which it passes over the next single warp 6a and the body selvage 5a. 4

' After passing over the last said bodyselvage warp5a the weft thread 8 passes under and completely around the supplemental selvage 10 crossing itself within the space 11 as shown at 9 in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 and passing under the adjacent body selvage 5a.

The crossing of the weft 8 intermediate the body selvage warp 5aand the supplemental selvage warp 10 holds the said supplemental selvage warp 10 in laterally spaced relation to the adj acent body selvage warp 5a, thereby producing the readily perceptible open space or line 11 along the edge 2 of the welt strip 1, the return loops 12 of the weft 8 functioning as tie threads at relatively closely spaced points longitudinally of the welt strip 1..

warp 5a at the edge 2 of the welt strip 1, the weft 8 passes underthe first single fibrous warp 6a, over the center single fibrous warp 6a, under the next single fibrous warp 6a and the first elastic body Warp 5, coming up and over the first grouped pair of fibrous body warps 6, then going down and under the next two elastic body warps 5 and the intermediate grouped pair of fibrous body warps 6, 6.

This order of over one and under three then follows in sequence across the fabric until the three single fibrous warps 6a are reached at the opposite edge 2a thereof, where the weft 8 comes up and over the center single fibrous warp 6a and then passes under the next single fibrous warp 6a and the body selvage warp 5a at the edge 2a of the welt strip 1. l

The weft 8 then passes around the elastic body selvage 5a at the edge 2a of the .welt strip 1 and passes under the first single fibrous warp 6a, over the center single fibrous warp 6a and under the third single fibrous warp 6a, then over the first and second elastic body warps 5 and theintermediate grouped pair of fibrous body warps 6,, then under the next grouped pair of fibrous body warps 6 and continuing this order. of under one and over three across the strip until the single fibrous warps 6a at the edge 2 of the welt strip 1 is reached, where the weft 8 passes under the first warp 6a, over the center warp 6a,

welt strip 1. j a

At this point, as shown in Fig. 7, the weft 8 does not pass around the supplemental selvage warp 10, but may do so if desired in order to double the 'numberof tie-in loops or. threads 12. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 12. 7

After passing over, around and under the elastic body selvage warp 5a at the edge 2 of the welt strip 1,- the weft8 passes over the first single fibrous Warp 611, under the center warp 6a, and over the third single fibrous warp 6a, then under the next two elastic body warps 5 and the intermediate grouped pair of fibrous body warps'6, then over thenext grouped pair of fibrous body warps 6.

This order of under three and over one is followed out across the fabric until the single fibrous warps 6a at the edge 2a of the fabric is reached, where the weft 8 comes up and over the first single warp 6a, under the center sin 1e warp 6a, over the next single warp 60 an under, around, and over the elastic body selvage 5a at'the edge 2a of the welt strip 1, thus completing one full cycle in the weaving of the welt strip 1. While the particular weave has been de- "scribed in detail any desired weave may be 'employedawithout departing from the essen tial feature of the welt strip which resides in the provision of the supplemental warp 10 ciently firm to act as a form for folding the perceptible topping line 11 is formed at the one edge of the Welt strip and wherein the number of tie-in,loops 12 will be equal or greater per inch than the number of needles per inch of the finest gage knitting machine to which the welt is applied for knitting the leg portion of the stocking directly thereto.

In order that the welt strip 1 will be sufficiently elastic the elastic warps and 5a are wrapped with fibrous threads 13. and 14 while the rubber core 15 is in a stretched or extended condition. When permitted to return to a normal unstretched state the covering threads of composite warp 5 or 511 will assume the form of closely positioned convolutions which will yield when the rubber core is again stretched.

The fibrous warps 6, 6a and are for the same reason composed of double twisted threads 16 and 17.

The fabric is woven with all warps under tension, hence when the fabric is removed from the loom all the warps will contract longitudinally with the rubber cores and the wefts 8 will also-be drawn into close substantially abutting relation to each other.

When topped onto the needles of a knitting machine the welt strip 1 is in a normal unstretched condition with the tie-in loops 12 in close relation to each other.

In topping onto the needles of a knitting machine on the points or quills of a transfer device such needles or polnts are projected through the open line 11 without regard to the location of the tie-in loops12 and it so happens that due to the close relation of the said tie-in loops 12 along the edge of the welt strip 1, one or more of the said tie-in loops will be positioned between each two adjacently positioned needles of the knitting machine, as shown in Figs. 7 10 and 11, thus when the needles 20 pull the'knitting thread ai through the welt fabric 1 to form the, first course of stitches m of the upper leg portion 3 of the stocking a single loop m (Figs. 10 and 11) will be formed by each needle 20, the sinker loops as -of the stitches m passing around one or more of the tie-in loops 12 of the welt and behind the supplemental selvage 10.

In this, manner-the leg portion 3 of the stocking is integrally knit to the welt 1 and the juncture between the two is such that no restriction of elasticity of the stockingis present.

The welt 1, while it is extremely elastic and functions to support the stocking in any desired position on the limb of a wearer without additional supporting means, is also sufiistocking smoothly and evenly from the position shown in Fig. 1 to that shown in Fig. 2' or Fig. 3, such folding being illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 respectively, where the welt 1- forms the center or core of the flat fold 21 or 22 in said figures. When used with a garter that is secured to agirdle, corset etc., the garter fastening,- see Fig. 1, is attached to the elastic welt 1' which has very little elasticity lengthwise of the stocking and therefore firmly holds the garter fastener 25. In order to avoid breaking stitches at the line of juncture where the welt 1 is integrally attached to the upper leg 3 in line with the garter fastener the upper leg portion 3 of the stocking is preferably made heavier than the lower leg portion 4, as noted above.

I claim:

1. A stocking composed of a woven welt having a selvage spaced from the body of the welt a distance suflicient to provide a I readily discernable topping line on the welt, and a leg knitted onto said spaced selvage.

2. A stocking composed of a relatively firm woven welt having a selvage spaced from the body of the welt a distance suflicient to provide a readily discernable topping line on the welt, and a leg knitted onto sald spaced selvage.

3. A stocking composed of a relatively firm woven elastic welt having a selvage spaced from the body of the welt a distance sufiicient to provide a readily discernable topping line on the welt, and a leg knitted onto said spaced selvage.

4. A stocking comprising a welt composed of woven fabric consisting of warps and wefts with one of said warps spaced laterally from the remaining warps a distance greater than the normal. spacing of said remaining warps and tied thereto by said wefts,

and a leg knitted to said spaced warp 5. A stocking comprising a welt composed of woven fabric consisting of warps and wefts with the outermost warp at one edge of the welt spaced laterally from the remaining warps a distance greater than the normal spacing of said remaining warps and tied thereto by predetermined wefts passing around said spaced warp and crossing themselves respectively intermediatesaid spaced warp and the warp next adjacent thereto, and a leg comprising a course of stitches looped around :the weft crossings and the said spaced warp.

6. A welt unit comprising a body composed of warps and wefts and a selvage warp spaced laterally from said body a distance greater than the normal spacing of the body warps and secured thereto by threads extending outwardly from said body providing a readily discernable topping line on the 'welt unit.

7. A welt unit comprising a woven fabric consisting of a body composed of warps and wefts and a selvage warp spaced laterally from one edge of said body a distance greater than the normal spacing of the body warps and secured thereto by predetermined wefts forming a relatively open space between the body of the weft and the said spaced warp;

8. A welt unit comprising an elasticwoven fabric body including a" plurality of elastic warps and non-elastic welts, and a warp spaced laterally from said body a distance greater than said body warps and secured thereto by predetermined wefts to form a relatively open, space between the spaced warp and the'body of the welt.

9. A welt unit comprising an elastic woven fabric body including a plurality of elastic warps and non-elastic wefts, and a warp spaced laterally from said body a distance greater than the spacing of said warps and I secured thereto by predetermined wefts passing' from one face of the body into the relatively open'space formed between said body and said laterally spaced warp, thence around said laterally spaced warp and through said space to the opposite face of said body.

'10. A stocking welt unit consisting of longitudinal warps and transverse threads binding said warps together to form the body of the welt and a selvage spaced from the body a distance sufficient to provide a readily discernable topping line on the welt.

HARRY C. ABERLE. 

